Like all teams, the Phillies keep an eye on the daily waiver wire. On Friday, they saw a name they liked and claimed 27-year-old outfielder, Pedro Leon. Officially, Leon came from the Baltimore Orioles, although he never played a game for the O’s. Leon was in the Astros organization and played seven games for Houston in the majors in 2024, the last season he appeared in the majors. Leon had to be added to the Phillies 40-man roster, which now stands at 32 after various recent player moves.

Leon defected from Cuba and signed with Houston, getting a $4-million bonus. His stock as a prospect has fallen with some very average minor league production. Strikeouts have been an issue for Pena, who struck out at a 29% clip over his first three minor league season, prior to cutting that down to 27% in 2024 and dropped it further to 25% in 2025. To date, Leon’s best season was in 2024 when he set career- highs in average (.299), runs (78), hits (140), home runs (24), RBI (90), OBP (.372), SLG (.514), and OPS (.886). He was rewarded with a call-up to Houston where he played in 7 games and went 2-for-20 (.100) with 2 runs scored, and 2 stolen bases. He was struck out 10 times in 21 plate appearances.

In 400 Triple-A games, Leon has hit 65 home runs and driven in 237 with a .252/.354/.447 slash line.

Defensively, Leon is primarily a center and right fielder, but has played 11 minor league games in left. Leon played some infield early in his career, but has been exclusively in the outfield the past couple of seasons.

Leon is not eligible for arbitration until after the 2027 season.